Dirty bird rescue. I followed up an ad on Facebook Marketplace (more on that one later), which led me to a wooded lot with 100 old cars. Among them sat a 1994 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GT in Grey Purple Metallic paint (Code 91U) sitting on only one wheel. Three corners of the Bird sat on dirt or chunks of concrete block. Despite the lack of rolling stock, and the less desirable LT1 engine (vs the LS1), I was quick to drag the old girl home for $100. Scrap price money.

Back in 1994
25 years ago I couldn't afford the new Trans Ams near $24,000 price tag but I loved their swooping curves, 6speed manual transmissions and powerful engines that validated their poor man's Corvette reputation. I sat in one of these fourth gen Birds when they were new on the showroom floor. Someday, I will own one of these, I thought. I told anyone who would listen to my soontobe college graduate/Trans Am owner life plan. I went for several test drives but couldn't pull the trigger. Instead, practical decisionmaking led me to a Chevy S10 for my postcollege transportation. Regret, and the truck's uncomfortable seats doomed my choice. This $100 Trans Am is my redemption!

Walk around
The first thing I noticed was the seldom seen Grey Purple paint. Only 120 Trans Am GTs were built in this color. This is also a hardtop Trans Am GT, 1of2,302 hardtop GTs built for 1994. The GT performance package got you a 155 mph speedometer and 245/50R16 Zrated tires. The combination of the GT package, hardtop and rare color means this was an unpopular choice when new but that means a collector may want to brag on the rarity of such a beast someday.
The glovebox holds the detailed RPO code sticker that includes the Y83 GT option code. Among this Trans Ams other options, G80 for Posi Traction, GU5 means 3.23 rear gear ratio, PW7 is the code for 16x8 alloy wheels and FE2 for the Suspension system/Ride handling package.

What happened here?
This Bird has been sitting since 2006 according to the tag. During that time the driver's side window has been busted out and the three missing wheels walked to the nearest scrapyard to fetch about $30 bucks. Inside is a disaster area. A large critter had devoured the headliner material and built huge, overflowing nests inside the glovebox and under the hood. Dank water in the driver's seat and floorboard had formed the breeding ground for swamp monsters. The worst part was found in the console. It was an automatic! The horror.

Have wheels will travel
The first rule of junk cars is... wait, there are no rules with junk cars. But, having an extra set of wheels and tires is a good thing to have for times like these. I mounted my spare set of Rally II Pontiac wheels and "maypop" tires onto the ’94 Bird. Lucky for us that the 5x4.75 inch bolt pattern fits a 1973 Trans Am and a 1994 Trans Am for the purpose of rolling the car onto a trailer. The rim offset is way wrong, so, the front tires rub when the wheels are turned more than a couple inches.

Hauling home with a guest
I met the caretaker of the field of cars, Glen, at the lot for pickup of my diamondintherough. He pulled it to the road through many mud holes with an old wrecker. My new winch made short work of the loading process, but the 3,400lb Pontiac made the trip to my driveway with a secret passenger onboard.
I met him after I cleaned out his mess under the hood and as I was vacuuming out under the passenger's side of dash. The jumbo rat plopped onto the driver's side floorboard, with a thud, hopped onto the seat and leaped out the window. It was huge! And it moved fast! Like a squirrel.

Trap time
I found fresh green leaves and sticks under the hood a couple days later. This rat wasn't going to leave. I pulled out the seats and carpet and placed a giant, wooden mouse trap, loaded with peanut butter on the floor. The next morning the 7inch long (11.5 inches. including tail) rat was found enjoying his last meal. Time to scrub this car down.

What do we got here?
Time to see what this LT1 engine will do. I tossed in a hot battery and hit the key. Nothing. I crawled under the Bird with a screwdriver and jumped the starter solenoid. It turned over several times. Yes! This is getting good now. Then, I sprayed some starter fluid into the throttle body. Screwdriver in hand, I crawled under and got the engine to turn over and run for few seconds. No knocking! This old Bird might me worth fixing after all.
Stay tuned. Will the $100 Trans Am be a keeper or a project/parts car for somebody else?

Jody Potter
– Junkyard Life


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Link to full story:
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